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Pro Team Tech 2004

The start of a new season is always an exciting time for tech-heads as we scope
out what the teams are riding this year. In this section and over the coming
months we'll look at the rides of top racers, and also at the bikes under less
wealthy teams - sometimes the most interesting rigs as team managers pull together
equipment from all over to keep their riders rolling.

Pro Bikes

Gina Hall's Bianchi Cross Concept

If you saw any of the six U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross races, you couldn't
miss Gina Hall. Not only for her unique tattoos wrapped around her upper right
arm, but the fact that in every USGP contest, she was a factor at the front
of each race. Such was also the case at the recent US 'Cross Nationals in Portland,
Oregon too, where Hall finished second to winner Katie Compton aboard her Bianchi
Cross Concept.

Mark McCormack's Clif Bar/Colavita Felt F1X

Mark McCormack's transition from simply one member of a powerhouse team to
a matured team leader at Colavita put him on a bike from a California manufacturer
not well known outside the inner circle of cycling. When McCormack, a long-time
'crosser (and both a former junior and elite national champion) approached his
first winter wearing Colavita colors, Felt set him up with their F1X.

Marc Gullickson's Signature Redline Conquest Pro Ti

At the U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross stop in Highland Park, New Jersey, Steve
Medcroft caught up with legendary 'cross pro Marc Gullickson, who will end his
season and career on a machine that befits a rider of Gully's reputation and
caliber: Redline's
Conquest Pro Ti.

Geoff Kabush's Maxxis-Giant TCX

This year's NORBA cross-country champion also likes to dabble on the cyclocross
circuit. In fact, Geoff Kabush has got so good at his off-season 'hobby', he
beat six-time national champ Peter Wedge to take his second Canadian 'cross
title just a few weeks ago on his team-issue Giant
TCX.

Mary McConneloug's Seven Tsunami

After a successful year of mountain biking that saw her earn the lone spot
to represent the U.S. at the Athens Olympic Games, Mary McConneloug is currently
tearing her way through the U.S Cyclocross season. And as nationals approach,
and McConneloug's fitness peaks, Steve Medcroft and Anthony Tan took a closer
look at the bike she claims is her secret weapon: the
Seven Tsunami.

Russell Stevenson's Bianchi Cross Concept

Reminiscent of Maggie Bäckstedt's winning ride at Paris-Roubaix, Benaroya Research
Institute rider Russell Stevenson took a second consecutive Washington State
'cross championship aboard his Bianchi
Cross Concept just over a week ago in the style of the Swedish strongman.

Oscar Freire's Rabobank Colnago C50 'Superlight'

The bike that won the men's road world's was this special
edition Colnago C50 that uses a high-modulus carbon to save weight, but
retains the C50's strength and stiffness. The perfect bike, you'd think, for
a sprinter on a hilly course,and it was certainly right for Freire as Tim
Maloney found.

Thomas Voeckler's Brioches La Boulangère Time VXRS

With components painted in French champion tricolour, this
Time VXRS is more likely to be remembered as the bike that Thomas Voeckler
used to doggedly defend the yellow jersey for ten days of the 2004 Tour de France.
Chris Henry and John Stevenson wonder where the 'du temperment' canister
mounts.

Jens Voigt's Team CSC Cervélo R2.5

Team CSC has new Cervélo R2.5s
for this year's Tour de France - and they're causing headaches for the team's
mechanics. With a substantial chunk of weight trimmed from the frames compared
to last year, CSC is having to be careful to keep the bikes above the UCI's
6.8kg weight limit. John Stevenson & Chris Henry wish they had such trouble.

Jan Ullrich's T-Mobile Giant TCR Composite

When you've never finished off the podium in the Tour de France and you've
had enough of coming second, you want a bike that brings every possible advantage
to the roads of the Grand Boucle. Jan Ullrich is campaigning this year's Tour
aboard the latest Giant TCR
Advanced. John Stevenson & Chris Henry take a look.

Iban Mayo's Euskaltel-Euskadi Orbea TT climbing prototype

On the much-anticipated fourth
stage of the Dauphiné Libéré, there was no holding back among the best riders
in the race as they set off to complete a 21.6 kilometre ride against the clock
up the fearsome climb of Le Mont Ventoux. Tim Maloney takes a look at
the race-winning machine - Iban
Mayo's Orbea TT climbing prototype.

Lance Armstrong's Trek Madone SSL proto

It's not about the bike - but when you have a Tour de France to win, it doesn't
hurt to have a development team working to come up with the best possible machines.
At the Mont Ventoux stage of the Dauphine, Lance Armstrong rolled out on a
Trek Madone SSL proto.

Emanuele Sella's Ceramiche Panaria-Margres Battaglin

Apart from 2004 Giro d'Italia winner Damiano Cunego, the other climbing revelation
of the race was Emanuele "Lele" Sella from Ceramiche Panaria-Margres. Tim
Maloney took a squiz at his Ceramiche
Panaria-Margres Battaglin while Sella was sitting pretty in his first ever
Grand Tour.

Dede Demet-Barry's T-Mobile Giant TCR Carbon

After a top 10 finish at the Tour de l'Aude, Dede Demet-Barry arrived back
in Canada excited about the prospect of another Montreal World Cup win. Cyclingnews
diarist and T-Mobile wrencher for the race, Chris Davidson, took a close
look at her T-Mobile
Giant TCR carbon before race day.

Marion Clignet's Look KG 496

Team France is betting the farm on its new KG 496 track bikes at the world's
and the Olympics. John Stevensontakes
a look at the bike that pursuit and scratch race specialist Marion Clignet
hopes will land her a pursuit medal or two in 2004.

Chris Horner's Webcor Cycling Team custom Lemond TT bike

Chris Horner's
time trial machine at the Tour of Georgia was a very special bike indeed.
We knew LeMond was yet to make a TT-specific frame, and while the company is
owned by Trek, Horner's machine looked nothing like Lance's custom rig or Trek's
Team Time Trial frame upon which it is based. So what the heck was it? Anthony
Tan found out.

Cesar Grajales' Jittery Joes Pro Cycling Team Klein Q-Pro XX

Jittery Joes' Cesar Grajales shot to fame at this year's Tour of Georgia after
winning the race's queen stage to Brasstown Bald, a climb US Postal DS Johan
Bruyneel compared to the infamous Angliru. Anthony Tan takes a look at
his Lance-dropping
machine.

Chris Horner's Webcor Cycling Team Lemond Tête de Course

As Chris Horner returns to defend his title at the Tour of Georgia, Cyclingnews
shooter Rob Karman took some snaps of the bike he hopes to ride away
from Lance Armstrong on - his Lemond
Tête de Course.

Fabian Wegmann's Gerolsteiner Wilier Triestina

Wieler Triestina has experienced its fair share of ups and downs since their
inception in 1906. After the company's founders were forced to close their doors
shortly after the second World War, the firm from Rossano Veneto has bounced
back to produce around 6,000 bicycles a year and take up sponsorship of two
division one cycling teams. Cyclingnews' Anthony Tan takes a step back
in time and a quick squiz at Fabian
Wegmann's Gerolsteiner Wilier Triestina.

Phil Zajicek's Team Navigators Colnago C50 HP

Colnago's
C50 HP commemorates the "Cinquantesimo Anniversario di Colnago", marking
a half-century of exquisite frame building by the Italian frame builder Ernesto
Colnago. His flagship creation for 2004 replaces the Colnago C40, a frame considered
by many to be the finest frame of any manufacturer during the 1990s and fittingly
showcased by riders from the world's number one team, Mapei-Quick Step.

Lance Armstrong's USPS-Berry Floor Trek Madone SL

A athlete who loves his equipment, Lance Armstrong used the Trek Madone 5.9
to propel himself to a fifth consecutive Tour de France victory in 2003. This
July, the leader of the US Postal Service-Berry Floor team wll be using something
decidedly different; Trek's
Madone SL is a work-in-progress of the machine Armstrong will use as he
attempts to create a league of his own.

Jaan Kirsipuu's Ag2r Prévoyance Decathlon Penta Pro

Losing 70 bikes from a fire at their service course in Chambéry on December
28 last year, defending champion Mikel Astarloza and his Ag2r Prévoyance team
were lucky just to make their first racing appointment at the Jacob's Creek
Tour Down Under less than three weeks later. Jaan
Kirsipuu's Decathlon Penta Pro was one of those who made it to Adelaide.

Jose Antonio Pecharroman's Time VX Special Pro

One of the most delicious things you'll see in the pro peloton this year is
Jose Antonio
Pecharroman's Time VX Special Pro Carbon. 2004 marks the first year the
dual winner of the Volta a Catalunya and Euskal Bizikleta will be riding on
Time (no pun intended), Pecharroman signing with Quick.Step-Davitamon for two
years to fulfill DS Patrick Lefevre's lusty stage race ambitions, along with
Richard Virenque and future Tour hopeful Michael Rogers.

Glenn D'Hollander's Lotto-Domo Eddy Merckx

With last year's race machines becoming this year's training bikes - plus the
fact that the 2004 model remains unchanged apart from a new paint job and had
yet to arrive - we thought Glenn
D'Hollander's Lotto-Domo Eddy Merckx was worth a closer look.

Graeme Brown's Panaria-Margres Battaglin

Few riders can successfully juggle both road and track racing at the highest
level, yet Panaria-Margres sprinter Graeme Brown has been doing both ever since
he turned professional in 2001. With equipment being all-important, Cyclingnews'
Anthony Tan takes a look at how
one half of him does it.

Graeme Brown's Teschner Track Bike

While custom frame builders are making something of a resurgence on the road
recently, made-to-measure frames have never gone out of fashion for the serious
track cyclist. Anthony Tan takes a look at a track machine that will
hopefully be ridden to Olympic glory, Graeme
Brown's custom-made Teschner.

Bikes of the 2004 Peloton

Bikes at the 2004 Peace Race

Now, we weren't expecting to see anything special or unusual at the Peace Race,
an unassuming UCI 2.2 stage race in the Czech Republic, but local photographer
Klaus Ditze came across both, including one very non-carbon looking Giant and
an Alessio-Bianchi rider still rolling around on his Bianchi that was specially
built for Paris-Roubaix. Take
a closer look for yourselves...

Bikes at the 2004 Tour de Georgia

America's premier stage race, the 2004 Dodge Tour de Georgia, brought some
of cycling's biggest names to the usually quiet roads of Georgia. And with them
came some of the biggest brands in the peloton. Orbea, Specialized, Litespeed
and more were all present, showing off bikes that some of us can only dream
of. So to pass on the pain of having to only look at them, we present a look
at the bike-porn from the Tour
de Georgia.

Bikes at the 2004 Paris-Roubaix

As Cyclingnews diarist Scott Sunderland says about Paris Roubaix, "It's
one of the few races of the year where riders often use slightly different equipment,
because of the unique characteristics of the race." In part
one of this special Cyclingnews technical feature, we take a look
at the lengths some riders have gone to make life easier on their bodies. In
part two, we take
a look at what some riders did before they tackled the "Hell of the North",
and found out whether it was worth it.

Bikes at the 2004 Milan-San Remo

With opening round of the 2004 World Cup kicking off last weekend at Milan-San
Remo, it was time for bike and accessories manufacturers to begin showing off
their new schwag. Here's
the stuff that caught the eye of Cyclingnews' European Editor Tim Maloney.

Team by Team

TT1 teams

Bianchi teams up with Alessio

Top Italian bike maker Bianchi, part of the Cycleurope group of companies,
won't have its name up in lights as solo sponsor of a Division I team this year,
but instead will co-sponsor the Alessio team, whose main sponsor is a Padua,
Italy manufacturer of aluminium car wheels.

Cannondale's carbon/aluminium bike official

At the Saeco training camp
in Italy over the weekend, Cannondale officially launched the carbon fibre
and aluminium bike that Saeco will campaign this year, as the red coffee machine
team aims to defend Gilberto Simoni's Giro title and make more of an impact
at the Tour de france this year than last.

Team CSC has continued its relationship with Canadian bike maker Cervelo for
2004 - and through into 2006. The extended deal was announced at CSC's recent
training camp in Tuscany, and Cervelo co-founder Phil White says the relationship
to date has been good for both parties, especially helping with Cervelo's development
process.

With 24 wins during the 2003 season, 12 more than runner-up in the winners'
rolls Jaan Kirsipuu, super sprinter is certainly the right name for Alessandro
Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) this year. Petacchi took his first win in Spain (23
Feb./ Trofeo Puig) and his last one (28 Sept. / Stage 21-Madrid: Vuelta d'Espana)
too. Petacchi won a record 15 stages in Grand Tours this season, confirming
that he is currently the fastest finisher in cycling.

It's official that T-Mobile (the Team Formerly Known As Telekom) will be riding
on Giant bikes next year. The announcement was made by Giant at Interbike in
Las Vegas on Monday. "We are delighted that one of the most successful
teams in road cycling has selected Giant to be their weapon of choice for the
coming years," said Tony Lo, President of Giant, Inc..